"Joe was kidnapped last night," Frank informed his friend.
"The freak place?" Biff asked. "You guys thought they suspected Joe's secret."
Frank shook his head. "I checked last night," Frank answered. "By the way, I told Dad I was with you last night," he added. "I couldn't tell him where I was really going or I would have had to tell him why that human circus would want Joe."
"What can I do to help?" Biff asked. "We have to get him back before the next full moon."
"I know," Frank answered. "But unless Mayhem is back in town his kidnapping probably has nothing to do with his secret."
"Hello, boys," Fenton said, entering the room as Frank finished speaking.
"Hi, Dad," Frank greeted his father. "I was just putting on another pot of coffee. Want a cup?"
"Please," Fenton acknowledged. "I believe the only way we are going to find your brother is to continue with the investigation for Weaver," he said. "Biff, if you wouldn't mind, I would like for you to accompany Frank to the docks. In disguise, of course," he added. "Kerry Trent has reportedly been seen there. I want you to find him and follow him."
"Who is Trent?" asked Frank, handing his father a cup of coffee.
"He's an established fence for the more eclectic items," Fenton explained, sitting down at the table. He pulled a picture from his shirt pocket and handed it to Frank. Trent had a dark complexion and short dry brown curls and brown eyes. "My informant said Trent was in possession of two works of art by Andrew Pierson. Some of Pierson's works were stolen from one of Weaver's warehouses only last week."
"Why were they in a warehouse?" Biff asked.
"Weaver is a major distributor of fine arts and museum quality imitation artifacts," Fenton explained. "He deals with the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as with the Smithsonian. He handles the mail order aspect of sales."
"And you think that if we follow Trent we might find out who is behind the thefts," Frank said.
"There is that," said Fenton. "But right now I am more concerned with finding your brother," he continued. "So if he does meet anyone, you two need to separate and follow who he meets with. There could be more than one individual and even then his contacts may have nothing to do with these particular robberies."
"So we don't call the police if we find something," Frank said, understanding what his father was getting at. "Not until we find Joe."
"Correct," Fenton acknowledged.
"What are you going to be doing?" inquired Frank.
"I have another lead to follow up on," Fenton said. "It involves a member of management at one of the warehouses. If you find anything, call and leave a message on the answering machine," he continued.
"Why?" asked Biff. "Did something happen?"
"Vanessa was kidnapped before Joe," Frank explained.
"She's at home now but can't remember anything," Fenton picked up the tale. He had escorted Andrea and Vanessa to the Bender's the night before and spoken with Vanessa when she regained consciousness. "She was drugged."
"But why was their place in a mess?" demanded Frank. "If she were unconscious when she was taken there wouldn't have been a struggle."
"Unless the drug had not come fully into effect before her abductor attacked her," Fenton said. "She would have been too disoriented to actually remember anything but still able to put up a minor struggle before fully losing consciousness.
"I'm off," Fenton announced, standing up and leaving his untouched coffee on the table. "Be careful," he added as he left the room.
"Your dad seems a bit preoccupied," Biff noted, staring after the detective.
"Even for him," agreed Frank. "He's probably just shaken up because Joe's missing."
"Joe's been kidnapped before," Biff pointed out. "And your dad was always focused."
Frank shrugged because he couldn't explain it himself. "Come on," he said. "Let's get into disguise and get to the docks."
"There he is," Biff hissed, grabbing Frank's arm and squeezing it almost three hours later.
Frank turned to look in the direction Biff had been watching and sighed in relief. He had begun to think this was a dead end. "He' s moving," Franks aid. "Let's go."
The two boys followed Trent into a small cafe where the man sat alone and had a cup of coffee and the daily special. To keep up appearances, the two boys ordered coffee and donuts. When Trent paid his tab, Frank tossed a ten at the cashier and he and Biff followed. A few minutes later Trent stopped to talk to two men. One was roughly the same height as Frank with thin, straight black hair that was put into a ponytail and the second was an inch shorter with a more muscular build and curly blond hair.
Unable to get close enough to hear, Frank and Biff watched as the three men chatted and then separated. "I'll take the blond," Biff said, moving away from Frank.
Frank followed his man for almost thirty minutes before arriving at the back of a deserted building. The man looked around and Frank quickly dodged behind a trashcan. When next he looked up the man was gone but the door to the building was just closing. Frank rushed forward and grabbed the door before it could close.
He pulled it open just a bit and peered inside. The area was dimly lit by light shining through the dirty windows but Frank could see no one present so he went inside and shut the door quietly behind him. The place was packed with furniture but it was obvious no one had used the office in some time. The floor was littered with footprints and the dust on the tables was disturbed but not to the point of extended usage. Obviously, thought Frank. This office was only an entryway to where whatever was going on actually occurred. He moved forward, heading toward the open door at the opposite end of the room.
Only two yards into the office and a light snapped on, freezing Frank in mid-stride. Three men moved out into the open as the man Frank had been following stepped through the open doorway. "Well now," the man said. "This is a pleasant surprise."